The Associated Press
Nashville -- Authorities say the unusual behavior of a New York truck driver who was pulled over for speeding and then shot during a confrontation with a state trooper has prompted them to investigate possible terrorist ties.
Mohammed Medhat Karim, 46, was pulled over Monday by Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Thomas C. Kilpatrick for speeding on U.S. Highway 64 in Wayne County, about 80 miles southwest of Nashville.
As Kilpatrick was returning with the citation, authorities said Karim backed into the trooper’s car, and “there was a confrontation at that time.”
Kilpatrick fired several shots, striking the driver in his chest, according to reports. Karim somehow took the gun away from the trooper, got back in his rig and drove about a mile before apparently realizing he had been shot and pulled over, authorities said. He was then arrested.
“It’s a very strange set of circumstances,” said District Attorney General Mike Bottoms, who called for the probe. “We’re trying to find out why a driver would act the way this one did for a speeding ticket.”
Karim was going 69 mph in a 55 mph zone, Bottoms said.
Maj. Gen. Jerry Humble, director of Tennessee’s Homeland Security, said authorities “don’t have any indication right now” that Karim may be tied to terrorists, but they’re just being “cautious.”
“It’s normal procedure,” Humble said. “This is the world we live in after 9/11, so this is the steps we have to take. Law enforcement never know what’s going to happen.”
Humble agreed with Bottoms that it was Karim’s “actions” that “raised our eyebrows,” not his foreign-sounding name or the fact that President Bush was in town Tuesday to speak to the American Legion national convention.
“It was irrational behavior from a commercial truck driver, and this was a crime,” Humble said.
Karim’s tractor trailer was impounded and authorities said a thorough search of it turned up nothing unusual. Bottoms said the FBI hasn’t been called into the investigation, but the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is helping.
Meanwhile, Karim remains at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition Tuesday. No charges have been filed against him, and his driving record was not available under New York privacy laws.
Kilpatrick has been placed on administrative leave with pay.